Step 25: Update 6 - Dirt vs Hydro

Step 26: Update 7 - Is it natural?

I had a question in the comments which I thought was important enough that I should make a step just for it.The question was: (from arirang777)"People...

Build your own outdoor hydroponic system to grow Potatoes, Strawberries, Lettuce and Celery!

I have been interested in hydroponics from a very young age when a relative gave me a "grow light".Being young, I didn't realise hydroponics meant growing without dirt, but that didn't stop me trying to grow plants under my parents stairs!

Ever since seeing my strawberries growing under that purple fluorescent glow, I was mesmerised by the idea of growing plants in different ways.When I learnt that hydroponics was about growing without dirt (and not artificial lights!), I was hooked even more.

I have researched for years, and recently took the plunge growing a small hydroponic chilli plant, that shot up above it's dirt bound siblings. That was it for me, I wanted more, and I wanted bigger!

So here is how I built my new hydroponic garden, I hope to inspire others to jump in, it is a great hobby!

Step 1: The Green side of life

Hydroponics is not only an enjoyable hobby, it is also a green one.

Hydroponics use as little as 10% of the water needed for plants grown in dirt , and results in higher yields due to the plants always having the necessary nutrients available to them when they need it.

Being a closed system, it also means that fertiliser is kept out of the water table, which is great for the environment.

An added benefit is that there is a less chance for weeds and dirt bound insects to attack your plants, so there is less of a need for chemical poisons.

Going furtherKeeping with the green spirit, this instructable uses recycled materials where possible, and uses a low power pump, to keep electricity use low.

From using old PVC pipes, an old wooden baby's crib and other miscellaneous junk, not only is the cost kept down, but so is the waste.

As for power, the only thing needed is a water pump.A small submersible pond pump kept the power usage down to a small 18 watts, which is about that of a CFL and less then a third of an Aerogarden!

When it comes to lights, it is hard to beat the Sun!Free, effective and carbon neutral, it provides the exact spectrum that plants have evolved to use.

Food

By growing food in my garden, it is a little bit less food I need to buy, a little less food that has been shipped across country, by trucks.No packaging, and no transport makes this food the greenest in my kitchen.

The hole drill bits are relatively inexpensive actually- I purchase a 4" ( much larger than need here) high end one for under $10.00. If you use it over and over again it is a great investment, and huge time saver. No drilling little wholes then smoothing- just do it all in one shot.

I did setup systems similiar to your and it's works. I didn't have the clay balls but used gravel from some fish tanks we have left over. I have attached a couple of pictures. I am still experimenting with this over the summer. Hopefully by the winter I will have all the bug out of it. I can't locate the hydroponic food in my area but I am using a mixture of Miracle grow and seem to be working, everything is growing. Thanks

Here are the pictures. The first picture is the general setup and second is about two week of old and the last one is when I started with some plants started in dirt, wihich told about 2 weeks to get started. I have also try some from seeds. Lettuce is doing pretty good and the cucumbers are dying. I am just trying different soil mixtures to see what will do good. I will keep you updated. Thanks

Nice tutorial NathanWilliams! I was going to go the hydroponic equipment route, but if DIY is this simple and affordable….I’m sold.

What veggies are the easiest to grow for a n00b and how much did you spend? I can across this hydroponic FAX which was pretty helpful for a novice like me. Any good tutorials out there that could aid me?

Thanks for the complement :)It has been a while and I can't recall how much I spent. The most expensive part was the pump, which here in Australia I think it was about $40, if you are in the US you should get it much cheaper.

As for the best veggies, I had the best results with celery, I would only be guessing at others.

Start with above ground veggies (not carrots etc), and as you get a feel for it you should just experiment with what works!

In the end all I did was experiment. Some things went well, others didn't. It is fun just trying!

I once grew a massive chilli plant using hydro once, way more chillies then I could use.

I don't really understand the purpose of the large water reservoir, does the irrigation channel end in it instead of the bottom bucket or is it just to make sure that the bottom bucket never runs out of grow fluid? Im a little unclear of its purpose and am wondering if it is necessary if a person is willing to check the h2o level of the lower bucket on a regular basis.

I added it as I tend to get distracted easily, so I could imagine forgetting to keep the water topped up and burning the pump out when it all went dry! (not to mention killing the plants!)

I found the lower bucket of water lasted a fair while, but I would suggest a dark bucket, preferably light proof, as all that water and nutrients makes a nice place for algae to grow, and I found I had to dump the water and clean it after a while.

With cheapy plastic material, you could also heat the drill bit (or a nail for that matter) and poke right through. When I tried on a similar project, I found that the drilling broke several of my cheap pots.

hi, thanks for this w9nderful tutorial. i read it all and planning to give it a try on our new home next month.i'm reallt new in to growing plants and got some very basic questions:1. how long it takes to grow the celery? and the strawberries?2. is because it grows on water the plants grow stronger and bigger?3. when the celery is fully grown, i need to take it out and plant a new one intead, right? or you just take few leafs every time and let it regrow?

It was quite a while ago now that I did this, so I don't quite remember how long it all took.

1. The celery was pretty quick, the strawberries didn't go as well as I had hoped though

2. The reason they grow stronger is that they have a lot more food to eat.Plants need a few basic elements (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) and a few other minor elements.In dirt the plant roots have to dig far, and even then they only get a small amount of what they could use, so they grow slowly.

In hydroponics the water is full of nutrients, so the plants take up as much as they can and grow fast.

3. I cut stalks off the celery and just left the plant to regrow, but if you want it all at once, then you could cut it down and plant a new seedling.Either way works!

I'm considering doing a new garden sometime soon, I want to try and get the strawberries to grow better then they did in this setup.

I really want to design something with stackable sections that can somehow can have the bottom potatoes harvested, the bottom section removed and placed on the top then the entire tower dropped down making a conveyor belt of potatoey goodness.

I was at one point wondering if I could use a worm farm for this by cutting out the base of each layer. (like this: http://www.canterbury.nsw.gov.au/resources/images/worm_farm.jpg)Unfortunately those things are expensive, so when I finally got one I used it as a worm farm!

Just had a potential idea that could make your idea for the Potatonater?, Tower of Potatoey DOOOOM!!!?, other Potato related name? easier to work and possibly cheaper after seeing a milk crate at work.

A set of stacking boxes with holes smaller than the growth medium in the bottom and solid sides should end up with an easily removable layer of potatoes if you can devise a way of moving a very heavy stack of crates.

Some sort of winch or jack that has a travel of the box height + a couple of inches should suffice to allow the bottom drawer to be removed and the rest of the tower lowered to the ground. Don't know how this lifting mechanism will connect to the boxes but I can't make it too easy for everyone ;)

I love it!Milk creates with some sort of wall would be easy, and if you could hinge one of the side walls, you might even be able to put your hand in to just pull potatoes out without moving it at all!

You could have a perpetual potato plant that you never have to replant!

Which one do you think is better for growing in? Perlite or Expanded Clay Balls? I'm deciding which one to buy. From the Hydroponic Store i'm buying it from they sell 50 liters of Perlite for $22.00 and 25 liters of Expanded Clay Balls for $25.00